labor leaders, nonprofit activists, journalists and scholars. Attached
to my statement are our press release and a list of members of the
advisory panel that David Osborne will chair.
We hope that our Alliance will help the administration and Con-
gress, not only in implementing H.R. 826, but also in undertaking
additional measures to redesign all levels of government, making
each of them a more effective force for the American people now
and in the 21st Century.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Fosler follows:]
119
^NAPA
^r
National Academy of Public Administration Chartered by Congress
STATEMENT OF
R. SCOTT FOSLER
PRESIDENT
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF PUBUC ADMINISTRATION
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ON
H.R. 826 - FEDERAL STRATEGIC PLANNING
AND PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT
MARCH 23, 1993
1120 G Street, N.W., Suite 850. Washington. DC 20005-3801 (202) 347-3190, FAX (202) 393-0993
120
Mr. Chaiiman and Members of the Subcommittee:
My name is Scott Fosler, and I am President of the National Academy of Public
Administration. The Academy is a private, non-profit and non-partisan organization
chartered by Congress to improve the effectiveness of government at all levels — federal,
state and local. I am pleased to respond to your invitation to appear at this hearing on H.R.
826, a bill providing for the establishment, testing, and evaluation of strategic planning and
performance measurement in the federal government.
H.R. 826 - STRATEGIC PLAI^NING AND PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT
Our organization has undertaken many initiatives on these two vital topics, and the
results of our work support the concepts embodied in this legislation. We agree with the
President and his budget director that Congress should enact this law.
The Academy has long supported the idea of reducing constraints on managers and
focusing on performance. As far back as 1983, in a report called Revitalidng Federal
Management, we supported a "shift of emphasis away from detailed operational controls . . .
and toward development and experimentation with iimovative management approaches, linked
to evaluation and reporting of agency managerial performance." In a 1988 report,
Congressional Oversight of Regulatory Agencies, we urged Congress to focus more on
performance, saying that the key to effective oversight is balance - a balance of ad hoc
oversight with "independent, systematic, and long-term analysis of laws and programs." And
in response to rising concern about the lack of quality information on program performance
at the state and local levels, we devoted our entire 1989 Fall Meeting to exploring how
performance information at those levels could be improved.
In 1990, the Academy established, as one of its strategic goals, the encouragement
and improvement of government performance through goal setting, performance monitoring,
and regular reporting. We have taken several steps to support this goal. At our 1991 Fall
Meeting, our Fellows passed a resolution recommending the use of goal setting, performance
monitoring, and regular reporting in government at all levels. We also estabUshed a Panel
on Improving Government Performance, chaired by Professor Joseph S. Wholey, Director of
the Washington Public Affairs Center of the University of Southern California, who is here
with me today. Under the panel's direction, the Academy has:
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2
♦ sponsored a Monthly Discussion Forum on Improving Government
Performance, to encourage dialogue and introduce new ideas on this subject,
and
♦ provided advisory and consulting services. Currently, the panel is
working with the U. S. Department of Education to design performance
indicators for several programs and then to produce a guidebook to help
other Education Department managers develop performance indicators
for their own programs.
With this as background, I want to turn to the bill itself.
First, this bill should be part of the larger effort to "reinvent government" — to
fundamentally change the way the federal government develops and implements programs,
and how Congress oversees performance. It should not merely add another layer to an
already complex and bureaucratic process with which we are all too familiar. The focus
needs to shift from preventing bad things from happening to reinforcing the goods things that
do happen. One essential goal should be to revamp the executive and congressional
oversight processes in order to free up federal executives, sujjervisors, and front-line workers
to carry out the strategic goals required by this bill.
The bill takes some initial steps in this direction by granting limited "managerial
accountability and flexibility waivers" allowable within existing law. The next step should be
a sweeping review of such laws to weed out unnecessary impediments to managerial
flexibility and effective, customer-oriented program performance. We note that the new
Clinton-Gore technology policy provides for updating government policies in areas such as
privacy, information security, records management, information dissemination, and
procurement to "take account of the rapid pace of technological change." StiU other laws
and regulations should be reviewed and revised to provide a climate for effective
performance.
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3
Second, we support the two sets of amendments that OMB director Leon Panetta
suggested in testimony before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee last week to (1)
permit adjustment of the bill's permanent provisions based on knowledge gained by the three-
year pilot projects, and (2) allow more flexibility in how alternate forms of performance
goals are defined and in how actual performance is reported. We also agree with David
Osborne's testimony last week that the timetable for full implementation should be
accelerated, if possible. Seven years is a long time to wait for fiill implementation.
Third, we believe executive agencies will need some additional resources to
implement the bill. The General Accounting Office and OMB have testified that program
performance measurement need not be a significant cost or administrative burden. However,
our work at the Education Department has shown that program managers do, in fact, need
time to develop and implement new performance indicators, and eventually, a performance
measurement system. The Congressional Budget Office last year estimated that the Senate
counterpart to this bill would cost $5- to $10-million a year for 1994-1996. Our concern,
however, relates more to how other efforts to reduce federal employment and administrative
costs will affect agencies' abilities to implement this performance measurement bill and also
meet their other program responsibilities. We already know that the Chief Financial Officers
Act's implementation has been slowed by the need to implement it largely without additional
funds. Will the implementation of this strategic planning and performance measurement bill
be hobbled in the same way?
Fourth, the field of performance measurement needs standard definitions. Within the
field, there are a variety of terminology systems and definitions for specific measures of
performance. Under one approach, activities are classified as "inputs, outputs, outcomes,
and impacts." Under another, they are called "context, process, and results." Measures
with the same or different names may have very different meanings. Congress and OMB
need to see that agencies use the definitions set forth in section 4 of the bill, and develop
whatever common terminology they need to permit comparisons across programs and
minimize p)Otential conflict and confusion.
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4
Fifth, an administrative entity (or entities) needs to facilitate, coordinate, and oversee
the development of performance measures, both government-wide and within each agency.
The design and implementation of such measures require some technical expertise. This
expertise, in turn, should be readily available and attuned to the agency or program in
question. OMB, which will have significant influence over how performance indicators are
applied, is hardly an uninterested party. OMB represents the President, who will want to
report "good" performance. The same holds at the agency and program level. Can OMB
provide unbiased leadership in implementing this bill? And can federal managers do the
same in evaluating their programs' performance?
The generic question is this: How can we assure that political and career executives
monitor and report the performance of their own programs without regard to self interest?
We need "neutral parties," based in a central location and in departments and agencies, with
the responsibility to ensure the performance measurement system's quality - that is, its
technical capacity, its objectivity, and its utility.
In the short ran, pilot projects will provide valuable experience that public officials
can use in fully implementing the program a few years down the road. The Academy stands
ready to assist OMB and the agencies in implementing this bill. Our experience in
examining performance measurement and helping agencies to develop performance indicators
could prove valuable at all stages.
I also want to stress the importance of the strategic planning requirements of H.R.
826. The basic starting jxiint and underpinning of effective performance measurement — and
good management as well — is a multi-year strategic plan tied to the articulated mission of an
organization.
Take, for instance, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Pursuant to a
congressional mandate, the Academy just completed a major study of federal, state, and local
governments' capacities to respond effectively to major natural disasters. We found that
FEMA did not have a strong sense of mission. In fact, the agency envisioned at its creation
has not yet been built. While a "federal response plan" had been developed, the agency had
neither long-term strategic goals nor the capacity to monitor program performance. We
believe this had much to do with its poor reputation and faltering performance following
recent catastrophes.
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5
All of the elements prescribed in H.R. 826 - strategic plans, performance plans,
managerial flexibility, performance budgeting, and performance measures - are needed in
order to achieve the goals of this bill.
ALLIANCE FOR REDESIGNING GOVERNMENT
Now let me turn to our new Alliance for Redesigning Government. David Osborne
and Ted Gaebler, co-authors of Reinventing Government, wrote:
Those who today are reinventing government originally set off to solve a
problem. . . . Just as Columbus never knew he had come upon a new
continent, many of today's pioneers - from governors to city managers,
teachers to social workers — do not understand the global significance of what
they are doing. Each has touched a part of the new world; each has a view of
one or two peninsulas or bays. But it will take others to gather all this
information and piece together a coherent map of the new model they are
creating.
If no other message came out of the election year, it was the demand for change.
People may differ on whether they want more or less government. But they all want better
government. And, despite the widespread view that government does not work, thousands of
public-sector pioneers around the country are discovering new ways to govern. They are
mayors and city managers, governors and agency directors, union leaders, legislators and
council members, federal program managers and even members of Congress. Outside of
government, they are community organization leaders, foundation officers, business and
labor leaders, and scholars. Some may be creating new ways to expand access to pre-natal
care; others are shaping a world-class public workforce. Some may be designing new budget
systems and others may be testing ways to better involve the public in setting priorities for
government.
Bit by bit, these pioneers are uncovering pieces of a new paradigm for governing.
But they lack a place where these pieces get tied together, a place where people can turn for
help and information. In a real sense, we have a body of activity nationwide which lacks a
central nervous system. While, together, these experiments suggest a new direction for
American governance, no one can systematically lend definition and clarity to this swirl of
activity. This is why we created an Alliance for Redesigning Government. It will fill the
gap-
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6
The Alliance, which we fonnally announced at a news conference yesterday, will be a
network for people throughout the nation who are developing new and better ways to make
government work. Its mission is to serve as a vehicle for connecting people and ideas, a
source of information, an originator of ideas, and a training ground for current and future
public leaders.
The Alliance, housed at the Academy, includes Democrats and Republicans; members
of Congress, governors, mayors, and city managers; business and labor leaders; community
and nonprofit activists; journalists and scholars. Attached to my statement are our press
release and a list of members of the advisory panel that David Osborne will chair.
The Alliance's products will include a fax newsletter and electronic bulletin board,
conferences, curricula for public policy schools, and an aggressive media campaign of
magazine articles, newspaper op-ed pieces, and TV and radio commentaries. Also included
will be "design labs" — workshops through which public officials at all levels devise more
effective ways to deliver services.
We hope that our Alliance will help the administration and Congress, not only in
implementing H.R. 826, but also in undertaking additional measures to redesign all levels of
government, making each of them a more effective force for the American people now and
in the 21st Century.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be pleased to respond
to any questions.
126
LLL 4NCE FOR REDESIGNING GOVERNMENT
National Acadcnn of Public Adniinislration
Contact: Embargoed for:
Barbara Dyer (202) 347-3190 March 22, 10 a.m.
Governors, Mayors, Business and Labor
Announce Initiative to Overhaul Federal, State, Local Governments
An extraordinary coalition of political and private sector leaders announced today the
creation of a new initiative to literally overhaul traditional government systems at the federal,
state, and local levels.
The Alliance for Redesigning Government, housed at the National Academy of Public
Administration (NAPA), includes Democrats and Republicans; senators, governors, mayors, and
city managers; business and labor leaders: community and nonprofit activists; and journalists and
scholars.
The Alliance plans to address the critical problems plaguing government by creating a
network - linked by a fax newsletter, electronic bulletin board, referral service, and other
methods — of thousands of individuals across America who are trying to reinvent their
govenmient.
Its creation was announced at a March 22, 10 a.m. news conference at NAPA - 1120
G St., N.W., Suite 850 - by Reinventing Government co-author David Osborne, Oregon Gov.
Barbara Roberts, American Federation of Teachers President Albert Shanker, NAPA
President R. Scott Fosler, and Alliance Director Barbara Dyer.
1 120 G Slrccl, N.W., Suiic S.^0, Waihinuion, DC, 20U05-.''S(I| (2112) .â– ^47-.^l')(). FAX (202) .W.'-O'W.^
127
The Alliance will do more than debate problems. Much more. Its leaders are focused
on devising solutions . They want to make all government work by sharing lessons about where
it already does.
And, they think the time is right. Americans are demanding change, as witnessed by last
year's elections. Whether they want more or less government, Americans clearly want bener
government.
"Hundreds of thousands of people - in cities, in states, in counties, even in federal
bureaucracies - are working to reinvent their governments," Osborne said. "Some are trying
to change their budget systems. Some are struggling to transform their own organizations. Some
are working to restructure major systems, like education, or job training, or child welfare.
Virtually all of them share one problem: they don't know where to turn for information and
help.
"The reinventing government movement is like an organism without a central nervous
system. There's no mechanism to get information from one group to another. People don't know
who has already invented the wheel they're trying to invent, who the experts are, who the
consultants are - or even where to turn for referrals. The Alliance will be that central nervous
system - a source of information, a place to go for referrals, and a vehicle for connecting
people and ideas."
Gov. Roberts said, "We bring a wide variety of experiences and a great diversity of
ideas, but we all share a common goal: To make government at all levels more effective and
responsive to the people of America. We know we can make government work smarter by
sharing the proven reforms and ideas. "
128
These leaders, who serve on the Alliance's Advisory Board, constitute a virtual "Who's
Who" of creative thinkers about the problems of government. Along with Osborne, the
Alliance's chair; Roberts and former Indianapolis Mayor William Hudnut, the co-vice chairs;
and Shanker; they include Sen. William V. Roth Jr.; Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman; Colorado
Gov. Roy Romer, chairman of the National Governors' Association; Massachusetts Gov.
William F. Weld; Newark, N.J. Mayor Sharpe James; Austin, Tex. City Manager Camille
Bamett; NYNEX executive vice president Tom Tauke; Gerald McEntee, president of the
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; and Rockefeller Institute
provost Richard Nathan.
The board will shape the Alliance's overall direction. As director. Dyer will run its day-
to-day operations. She will work closely with Fosler and will, in turn, tap the extraordinary
knowledge base of NAPA's 400 Fellows, each of whom has made a distinguished contribution
to public life. Along with Dyer and Fosler, the Alliance's founders were Osborne and
syndicated columnist Neal Peirce.
The Alliance already has received funding from the Ford Foundation, ARCO, NYNEX,
and Richard Dennis of the Dennis Trading Group, in Chicago; it will be soliciting more from
foundations, corporations, individual donors and governments at all levels.
"An entrepreneurial approach to government is an idea whose time has come," Hudnut
said in a prepared statement. "People want us to get beyond the choice of merely paying higher
taxes or getting less in services. The demand is there for us to manage better. The Alliance
will address that demand and bring to it creative new responses. "
129
Along with the newsletter, its products will include conferences, curricula for public
policy schools, and an aggressive media campaign of magazine articles, newspaper op-ed pieces,
and TV and radio commentaries. Also included will be "design labs" - workshops through
which public officials devise more effective ways for all governments to deliver services.
The Alliance has one project under way. In conjunction with the Council of Governors'
Policy Advisors (where Dyer previously served as director of policy studies); the Corporation
for Enteiprise Development; the National Association of State Budget Officers; and the National
Governors' Association, it is designing a prototype human investment budget for states. The
Ford Foundation has provided $110,000.
In addition, the Alliance is working closely with Ford on a proposal to develop a high-
performance public workforce. The Alliance also is drafting its proposal for a fax newsletter,
for which it will seek funding.
The Alliance network will include not just elected officials - members of Congress,
governors, state legislators, mayors, and city council members - but appointed officials as well
as civil servants. It also will include community organization leaders, foundation officials,
business and labor leaders, and scholars.
Some are creating new ways to expand pre-natal care. Others are shaping a world-class
workforce. Still others may be designing new budget systems and testing ways to increase
public involvement in setting priorities.
What they lack, though, is a place to turn for information and help. As Osborne said.
the Alliance will serve as a kind of central nervous system - a vehicle for connecting people and
ideas, a source of information, an originator of ideas, and a training ground for current and
future public leaders.
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
lliliililllllllllllli
130 3 9999 05982 475 3
ALLIANCE ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
National Government - Elected
Senator Joseph Lieberman, Connecticut
Senator William Roth, Delaware
National Government - Appointed & Career
Anna Kondratas, Senior Fellow, The Hudson Institute
Elsa Porter, Fellow, NAPA, Washington, DC
Peter Szanton, President, Szanton Associates, Washington, DC
State Government - Elected
Governor Barbara Roberts, Oregon - Alliance co-vice chair
Governor Roy Romer, Colorado
Representative Beverly Stein, Oregon
Governor Wilbam Weld, Massachusetts
State Government - Appointed & Career
Nancy Grasmick, St. Supt. Schools, Maryland
Sandra Hale, President, Enterprise Management Int'l., Minnesota
Curt Johnson, Deputy Chief of Staff, Minnesota
Local Government - Elected
Mayor Bill Frederick, Partner, Holland and Knight, Orlando
Supervisor Grantland Johnson, Sacramento
Mayor William Hudnut, The Hudson Institute, Indianapolis - Alliance co-vice chair
Mayor Sharpe James, Newark
Mayor John Norquist, Milwaukee
Local Government - Appointed & Career
Camille Bamett, City Manager, Austin
Robert Bobb, City Manager, Richmond
Ted Gaebler, Director, The Gaebler Group, San Rafael
Henry Gardner, City Manager, Oakland
131
Union Members
Gerald McEntee, President, AFSCME
Albert Shanker, President, American Federation of Teachers
John Sweeney, President, Service Employees International Union
Scholars
Alan Altshuler, Director, Taubman Center, JFK School of Government
Richard Nathan, Provost, Rockefeller Institute
Ellen Schall, Professor, RF Wagner School of Public Service, New York University
Foundations
Craig Kennedy, Advisor, Dennis Trading Group Inc., Chicago
Community, Non-Profit Leaders
Gail Christopher, President, Gail C. Christopher Int'I Inc., Chicago
Alfred Ramirez, President, 2000 Partnership, Los Angeles
Private Sector
Tom Tauke, Executive Vice President, Government Affairs, NYNEX
Association Leaders
Mark Abramson, President, Council for Excellence in Government
John Parr, President, National Civic League
Deborah Wadsworth, Executive Director, Public Agenda Foundation
Opinion Shapers/Media
Peter Harkness, Editor, Governing Magazine
David Osborne, Writer/Consultant - Alliance chair
Neal Peirce, Syndicated Columnist, Contributing Editor, National Journal
132
Mr. FOSLER. I am pleased that I have accompanying me both Dr.
Joseph Wholey, who is the chair of our Panel on Performance Re-
view; and also Barbara Dyer, who is the director of our New Alli-
ance for Redesigning Grovemment.
Mr, CoNYERS. Is this the gentleman sitting to your right?
Mr. FosLER. This is Dr. Joseph Wholev.
Mr. CoNYERS. OK Glad to see you here this morning. Do you
have a comment that you wanted to make?
Dr. Wholey. One thing I wanted to suggest to the committee,
Mr. Chairman, is that you might want to consult Dick Riley on
what has been accomplished in the South Carolina education sys-
tem. There is a wonderful performance measurement system there
that has resulted — ^at least it has been part of a big education re-
form movement that has resulted — in better education for the chil-
dren in South Carolina.
So I think it would be kind of nice to consult Secretaiy Riley and
ask him to perhaps bring some people up from South Carolina on
what is in H.R. 826.
Mr. CoNYERS. Have you discussed this with my staff?
Dr. Wholey. This is my first opportunity, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. CoNYERS. Well, we don't usually run with these ideas that
come in, that you invented off the seat of your pants. We have been
working for weeks putting this hearing together. And you are tell-
ing me to call Governor Rney and find out about a wonderful study.
Do you mind if my staff and you talk first and find out if they
should bother with it, much less me?
Dr. Wholey. That would be fine, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. CoNYERS. OK. G<)od idea. And Governor Riley is a good